So the fallout from the Lindsay Clancy hung jury has been pretty stunning. And it may severely impact jury trials in Massachusetts.
For those unaware: on September 4, Lindsay Clancy, accused of murdering her 3 children in cold blood, had a mistrial via hung jury in Plymouth County Superior Court. The issue in the case was not whether she actually murdered the children (she admits to it), but whether she did so with sufficient mental capacity. The jury split 11-1, with 1 juror (initially identified only as a male) holding out and believing she had sufficient mental capacity. The other 11 wanted to vote Not Guilty. The case has garnered national and international attention.
Normally, a hung jury in a newsworthy case causes the case to die down in the news. But this has only ramped up the situation because of attacks on the lone holdout juror. Despite the judge sealing the juror names for the immediate future, 3 other female jurors instantly broke their silence and did a cozy “round table” interview with NBC10’s Sue O’Connell (who’s bias in favor of the defendant has been evident throughout the trial), where the 3 women excoriated the holdout juror. 2 other jurors (1 male and 1 female) also gave interviews to other news media, with the focus on the lone holdout. Much discussion and speculation ensued about the lone juror’s beliefs and ideas.
As of today, the lone male juror has not identified himself or given any interviews.
Then from Sept 11-September 12th things got even more heated. First, 1 of the 3 women O’Connell previously interviewed came forward on CBS Mornings and identified the lone male juror as black. Then NBC10 through O’Connell and Ryan Kath doxxed the lone holdout (without naming him) by revealing his alleged criminal and restraining order history, and implying without evidence that he had “lied” on his juror intake forms. And, finally, Aidan Kearney, aka “Turtleboy”, an independent journalist/ muckraker (who has also been pro-defendant in this case), then further doxxed the juror by revealing his name and picture, along with more personal details about him. Again, as of today, the lone male juror has not identified himself or given any interviews.
Going forward, how many people will want to serve on juries in Massachusetts if this is what happens to them? As a lawyer who does jury trials regularly I know it is hard to get them as it is. But now if I am personally called for jury duty and nothing major and public is done to punish the doxxers I,as a lawyer, will be very tempted to say that I refuse because I do not want to be doxxed, harassed, and intimidated for voting with my conscience but somehow “incorrectly” according to some biased media hack. And I am certain lots of other people—lawyers and not— are thinking the same way. Doing your civic duty should not involve fear of retaliation or publicity you do not want.
Unless the prosecutors and the courts come down hard on this doxxing — including charging the above persons with juror intimidation —getting a jury trial is going to be exponentially harder than it already is.
